Photographic apparatus



Oct. 27, 1931.. J. s. GREENE ETAL 1,829,347

VPHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS Filed Sept. 19, 1928 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTORS Oct. 27, 1931. J. 5. GREENE ET AL 1,829,347

PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS Filed Sept. 19, 1928 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z5 INVENTORS Lin/HA5. 6}6671'6 awn M210 @055 v v s g l Oct. 27, 1931. J. 5. GREENE ETAL PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS Filed Sept. 19. 1928 6 Sheets-Sheet '3 INVENTORS 170k): .5. 0mm

%r ATTORNEYS Oct. 27, 1931/ Y J. s. GREENE ETAL PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS Filed Sept. 19. 1928 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Oct. 27, 1931;

J. s. GREENE ET AL ,347

PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS Filed Sept. 19, 1928 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTORS r150 Lfoin 565 MWWQM %zjr ATTORNEYS as of small objects of any nature.

pas a Oct. 27.1931

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN S. GREENE AND ARTHUR W. CAPS, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, 'ASSIGNOBS TO PHOTOSTAT CORPORATION, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, A CORPORATION OF RHODE ISLAND PHOTOGRAFHIC APPARATUS Application filed September 19, 1928. Serial No. 807,018.

This invention relates to photographic cameras, and is particularly applicable to cameras of the type known as commercial cameras, which are used for business purposes in making photo raphic copies of documents and writings 0% all kinds, as well The invention has for its object to provide an improved light, compact, relatively inexpensive, and efficient photographic machine ofthis nature, having the further characteristics of- I accessibility of parts and convenience of operation.

,The improvements aredirected in part to folding features with regard to the projector, lights, and object holder, and in part to the matter of accurate, safe, and convenient conduct of the film into and out of the focal plane of the camera.

Another object ofthe invention is to provide photographic apparatus of simple char acter' which may be operated easily by'a comparatively inexperienced operatorl A further object is the provision of photographic copying apparatusof portable character which is collapsible so that it occupies substantially less space when not in use than when it is being 'used for making exposures,

" and which may be set up or knocked down easily and quickly.

To these and other ends the invention resides in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a photographic apparatus constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating it in folded or knocked down position; a

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, also illustrated in knocked down position;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, illustrating the parts in operative position ready for making expo sures;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken longitudinally through the copyholder and part of the body of the camera;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged side elevation of the upper part of the camera body, illustrating details of the mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a rear elevation of the copyholder' in position upon its supporting pins, showing the pins in section;

Fig.7 is a vertical sectional View throu h the upper part of the camera body, taken su stantially along the center line thereof;

Fig. 8 is a sectional viewillustrating the construction of the. guide rails and guide-.

wa s for the rollholding box;

ig. 9 is a vertical section. taken trans-' versely through the upper part of the camera body near the front thereof, looking rearwardly;

Fig. 10 is a horizontal section through the apparatus, illustrating the sheet feeding and severing means, and

Fig. 11 is a vertical section through parts I of the lens system of the apparatus, showing .plate 24 extending across the apparatus from one side wall to the other.

The front wall 21, as is shown in Fig. 2, does not extend all the way down to the cross plate 24, but stops slightly above this plate so as to leave a slot or cavity into which the copyholder may be inserted when not in use, as will be described further below.

Extending forwardly from the front wall 21 of the main housing or camera body is a lens-carrying extension 25 positioned as shown in Fig. 3 when the camera is in use for making exposures. This extension, in the present instance, is a cowl shaped somewhat like a frustum of a pyramid, with its base against the front wall 21 of the housing and with the lens system within a casing 26 at its prism'27 to bend the light. rays through 90 so that the camera may be used to photograph objects placed vertically beneath the prism. There is, of course, an opening in the front wall 21 within the area covered by the cowl 25, so that when exposures are made, light passing through the lens system and through the cowl may enter the main body of the camera.

This cowl 25 is preferably movably mounted on the main body portion of the camera housing in order that it may be shifted to another position when the camera is not in use, thus occupying less space. Preferably a hinged or pivoted connection is employed, the cowl 25 being pivoted at 28 to the front wall 21 of the camera housing. as shown in Figs. 1, 5 and 7. A latch 29 (Fig. 5) mounted on the upper portion ofthe front wall 21 cooperates with a pin 30 onthe top of the cowl 25 to hold the cowl in the position for makmg exposures, illustrated in Figs. 3, 5 and 7. lVhen this latch is released, however, the lens carrying cowl may drop downward about its p vot or hinge 28 to the position shown in F igs. 1 and 2. In this position, the cowl is substantially within the outline of the forwardly extendmg base portion 23, and it proects a considerably less distance from the main body port 1on of the camera than is the case when it is in the position shown in Fig. 3. Resillent means such as the spring 31 may befixed to a wall of the cowl 25, this spring being adapted to bear against a plate 32 on the front wall 21 when the cowl isin its folded or downwardly hanging position, to eep the wall of the extension slightly separat-ed from the front wall 21 of the houslng, thus preventing jarring or injury which might be caused by contact of the parts.

Referring now to Fig. 7 there is a flange 35 extending forwardly from the front wall 21 of the main housing, adjacent and inside of the walls 25 of the cowl when the latter is in operating position. A'strip 36 of yielding material, such as felt or the like, may be held on the walls 25 by plates 37 in position to bear t1ghtly against the flange 35 when the cowl 1s in position for making exposures. This y eldlng strip provides a light tight connection between the main housing and the cowl which is movable relative thereto, so that leakage of light into the exposure chamber 1s prevented when the cowl is in operating positlon.

Means may be provided for holding sensitized sheet material within the exposure chamber directly behind the cowl 25, so that light reflected by the prism 27 and passing through the lens system of the apparatus may fall upon the sensitized sheet material to make a photographic print. This means, in

the present instance, includes a roll holding box 40 having a cover 41 hinged to the box at 42, a space 43 being provided between the front wall of the box and the front edge of the cover. A roll 44 of sensitized sheet ma- The roller 45 may have a toothed portion cooperating with the free end ofa resilient strip 46, the other end of which is secured to a bracket 47. As the sheet material 44 is fed forwardly, it turns the roller 45 and the teeth passing over the strip or leaf 46 produce aclicking sound plainly audible outside of the camera. When the supply of sheet material is exhausted, no clicking will occur when the sheet feeding means is operated, and thus the operator will be notified of the exhaustion of the supply. Below the box 40 and substantially in the plane of the front wall thereof there may be mounted sheet feeding means best illustrated in Figs. 7 and 10. This feeding means may comprise a roller 50 mounted on a shaft which projects through one of the side walls 20 of the main housing and which has a crank 51 attached thereto so that the roller may be rotated from a point outside of the housing. The shaft on which this roller 50 is mounted carries a spur gear 52 meshing with another spur gear 53 on a shaft 54 which carries a roller 55. This shaft 54 does not extend through the side walls 20 of the housing but is journalled at its ends in forked links 56 of the shape best shown in Fig. 7, each link being pivoted at 57 to aside wall and having a spring 58 normally urging the link rearwardly so that the roller is normally in contact with the roller 50. I

Each of these links 56 has an arm 59 which is received in a notch or flat spot 60 on a shaft 61, which is journalled in the walls 20, and which extends through one of the side walls and is provided with an operating lever 62 by which the shaft 61 may be slightly turned. VVhen'this shaft is turned, it is obvious from Fig. 7 that the corners of the flat spots 60 will act as cams to push forwardly against the arms 59 of the links 56, thus moving these links forwardly and separating the roller 55 a slight distance from the roller 50, so that the sheet of sensitized material may be threaded easily between the rollers.

This threading of the sheet material may be accomplished by unlatching the cowl 25 and dropping it down to the position shown in Figs. 1' and 2, thus providing a com aratively large opening in the front 0 the camera housing through which the operator may reach to thread the sheet material. When the sheet material has once been threaded between the rollers,it may be fed forwardly as often as desired by operation of the crank 51. Preferably automatic stop mechanism is provided for stopping the rotation of the crank when a predetermined length of sheet material has been fed forwardly, this stop mechanism including a gear rotated by the crank 51 and having a hole 66 into which a pin 67 may drop upon each rotation of the gear. This stop mechanism is known in the art. and need not be further described here.

Below the sheet feeding'means there may be mounted a sheet severing mechanism also best illustrated in Figs. 7, 9 and 10, this severing mechanism including a reciprocating knife element which comprises a knife blade 70 mounted on a plate 71 having its end slidably supported in guideways 72 secured to the side walls 20 of the camera housing by screws73 which extend through the walls ofthe housing. The knife element is nor- I mally urged rearwardly by springs 74. s'ecured at one end to theknife element and at the other end to posts 75 mounted walls of the apparatus.

The knife element may include notches 76 formed in the plate 71 and arranged to receive operating arms 77 on an operating shaft 78 which extends across the apparatus below the knife element and projects through one of the side walls 20, where it may be provided with a handle 79. A stop pin 80 limits the rearward motion of the arms 77' and thus limits the movement of the knife element under the influence of the springs 74. Operation of the handle 79 to turn the shaft 7 8 in a clockwise direction, when viewed as in Fig. 7, iseffected to move the knife element. forwardly in the guides 72 so that it cooperates with an abutment element 81 secured to these same guides. As the sheet material is fed downwardly by the rdllers 50and 55,

' it passes between the knife blade 70 and the abutment element 81, as shownclearlyin Fig; 7, so that subsequent actuation of the handle 78 is effective to sever the sheet.

The entire sheet severing assembly may be removed easily from the machine'as a unit by taking out the s'crews 73 which hold the guideways 72 in place. The springs 7 4 may be easily slipped off of the posts to which they are attached and the plate 71 of the knife unit may be lifted vertically off of the operating arms 77, since these arms simply extend into slots in the plate and are not con nected thereto by screws or pivots. removability of the severing mechanism is of great convenience when making repairs or on the The easy Below the severing mechanism there may be placed a sheet receiving receptaclesuch as the drawer 85 which is removable from the camera housing by a horizontal sliding movement, the front wall 86 of the drawer normally closing an opening in the rear wall 22 of the camera housing, as shown most clearly in Fig. 7. A slot 87 is provided in a horizontal plane near the top of the drawer. this slot extending out through the front of the drawer as shown, and alight guard such as the strip 88 of yielding material is placed in a position normally intersecting the slot 87, to exclude light from the dark chamber of the apparatus.

The'sheets severed by the knife mechanism from th strip of sheet material fall into the drawer 85. When it is desired to remove the sheets so that they may be developed, a plate 89 may be inserted in the slot 87 as shown.

in Fig. 9, so as to close the top of the drawer, this plate depressing and passing easily over the yielding light guard strip 88. When the plate 89 has been placed in position, the drawer 85 may then be withdrawn from the apparatus and carried to a dark room, for example, without danger of spoiling the prints. Furthermore,-this closure plate 89 may be placed in position even when it is not desired to remove the drawer, if the operator wishes for any reason to swing the cowl 25 down to the position shown in Fig. 1.

The roll holding box 40 which has been mentioned above is preferably removable as a unit from the casing or housing of the camera through a door 90 in the back wall 22 of the housing. A guide rail 91 may be secured in horizontal position to each end of' the box 40, and each of these guide rails may be received in guideways 92 mounted upon the inner sides of the side walls 20, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. The door 90 has a latch 93v (Fig; 7) for holding it in closed position, and resilient means such as the leaf spring 94 is mounted upon this door in position to. press against the rear wall of the box 40 when the door is closed, and thus to urge the box forwardly.

The forward motion of the roll box under theinfiuence of this spring may be limited by adjusting screws'95 (Figs. 7and 9), which are arranged to bear against any convenient part of the box, such as the-forward ends of the guide'rails 91. It is apparent that adjustment of the screws 95 will vary the position of the box within the exposure chamber, and thus the strip of sheet material which is stretched over and supported by the front wall of the box may be adjusted so that it lies accurately in the focal. plane.

It should be noted that the door 90 may be opened to provide access to the interior of tilt casing from one side, while the cowl 25. may

be moved to provide access from the other side through the cowl opening. In this way, both sides of the focal plane may be reached conveniently. If desired, a personstanding at the side of the casing may put one arm in through the front opening and the other arm through the rear opening in order to grasp conveniently any of the parts within the casing, such as the sheet feeding mechanism or the severing devices, for repair or removal.

A copyholder is preferably provided for holding the objects to be photographed. This copyholder is of the construction best shown in Figs. 4 and 6, and comprises a flat body such as the plate 100 having downturned flanges 101 at the edges thereof. A pad 102 of soft material such as felt overlies the plate 100, and above this pad is a transparent plate 103 held in a suitable frame which is hinged at one edge 104 to the body 100 of the copyholder. Documents or other objects to be photographed may be placed between the pad 102 and the transparent plate 103 by lifting the free edge of the latter, the transparent plate then being dropped down to its normal position to hold the documents flat.

Pins 105 project forwardly from the front ,of the camera body and each pin has a circumferential groove 106. Notches 107 are formed in the rear flange 101 of the plate 100 of the copyholder, in such position that the copyholder may be detachably secured to the camera body by engagement of the pins 105 in the notches 107, as shown in Figs. 3 and 1. This engagement holds the copyholder in predetermined position with respect to the camera body, so that it is properly centered beneath the prism 27.

' The pins 105 not only aline the copyholder properly but also support the rear edge thereof, holding it a slight distance above the horizontal surface on which the camera is set.

The-forward edge of the copyholder may be supported by means such as the plate 110 (Fig. 4) pivoted at 111 to the body of the copyholder, this plate forming a leg which may be moved to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 4 when the copyholder is to be used for holding objects to be photographed.

When the camera is not in use for making exposures, the copyholder may be detached from the camera body by lifting the rear edge thereof off of the pins 105 and the plate 110 may be folded substantially into the plane of the copyholder as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4. The copyholder may then be placed on the plate 24 and slid rearw rdly thereon into the groove or recess forme in the camera housing, which has been mentioned above. Strips 112 (Figs. 2 and 4) may be secured on the plate 24 to guide the copyholder as it is slid in and out of the recess, thus saving wear upon the plate 24 and avoiding marring of the varnish or other finish thereon. The

copyholder when placed within the recess is in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It is apparent from these figures that it takes up substantially no additional space beyondthat required by the camera body itself, yet it is but the work of a moment to withdraw the copyholder from the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and to place it in its effective operating position illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4.

Illuminating means is preferably mounted on the camera body for illuminating the objects held by the copyholder when they are being photographed. This illuminating means may include illuminating units such as the electric bulbs 120 mounted within reflectors 121 and supported by arms 122 pivoted upon horizontal pivots 123, which pivots are in turn mounted on Vertical pivots 12 1 in brackets 125 secured to the walls of the camera housing.

By the aid of these pivots, the illuminating means have a universal movement in either a vertical or a horizontal plane, and the supporting arms 122 are furthermore clamped by clamp screws 126 to the horizontal pivots 123 sothat these arms 122 may be turned to place the reflectors 121 in differentangular positions. The illuminating unit may be moved to a position such as that illustrated in Fig. 3 for illuminating the copyholder when ekposures are to be made, and may be shifted quickly to what might be termed a folded up position illustrated in F gs. 1 and 2, in which these illuminating units project a. less distance from the camera body and in which they are substantially within the outline of the forward base extension of the camera body. Any suitable source of current may be used for operating the illuminating units.

Referring now to Fig. 11 of the drawings, the lens housing 26 which has been mentioned above, is shown as being secured to a plate 130 mounted on the small or forward end of the cowl 25. A tube 131 is mounted also on the plate 130 in position so that its axis is substantially in alinement with the opticalaxls of the lens system. A color filter including a glass 132 supported in a flange 133 is preferably placed within this tube 131 and is held therein by frictional engagement between the tube and a plurality of spring fingers 134 which are formed on the flange 133 and which extend substantially parallel to the axis of the tube. This color filter may be removed easily by openin the cowl or folding it down to open the shutter for the required length of time. The shutter is also opened, of course, when it is desired to remove the color filter 102 or to place a filter in position.

A handle 140 may be secured to the top of the camera body so that the a paratus may be carried about conveniently rom place to place. When the apparatus is to be moved, it is knocked down or folded up to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so that it takes up a comparatively small amount of space. When it is desired to make exposures, it is but the work of an instant to raise the cowl 25 up to the position shown in Fig. 3, to shift the illuminating units to their operative position also shown in this figure, and to place the copyholder on the pins 105 and fold down the pivoted supporting member 110 thereof, so that the copyholder will be ready for use and in proper position with respect to the optical system of the camera.

Exposures may then be made by moving the handle 137 to open the shutter. After each exposure, the exposed portion of the. sensitized sheet material is fed' forwardly by operation of the crank 51, and this exposed portion is then severed by operating the crank 7 9 so that the portion drops into the drawer 85. Another expo: are may then be made, and the process may be repeated as often as desired.

While one embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it is to,be understood that the inventive-idea may be carried out in a number'of ways. This application is there. fore not to be limited to the precise details shown, but is-intended to cover all variations and modifications thereof falling within the spirit of the invention orv the scope of the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a photographic apparatus,.the combination with walls formin a dark chamber, of sheet feeding mechanism therein, means for severing a sheet fed by said mechanism, and a rece tacle within said dark chamber below said severing means for receiving a sheet severed thereby, said receptacle comprising a drawer removable from said dark chamber, one ortion of said drawer forming part of a wa l of said darkchamher when the drawer is in place therein, said portion haying a 'slot therethrough for insertion of a closure for said drawerprior to its removal from said dark chamber, and a yieldable member normally extending across said slot to exclude light fromsaid dark chamber, said member being displaceable by insertion of said closure. Y

2. In a photographic apparatus, the combination with walls forming a dark chamber, of a pair 'of rollers therein for feeding a sheet between them, a pair of forked arms pivotally mounted in said dark chamber, one of said rollers being journalled in one branch of each of said forked arms, and mechanism acting upon another branch of each of said forked arms to move said arms to shift said one of said rollers bodily with- 4. In a photographic apparatus, the combination with walls forming a dark chamber, of sheet severing mechanism including a reciprocating knife element removably mounted within said dark chamber, said knife elementhaving a slot therein, and

an arm for reciprocating said knife element,

said arm having a portion extending into said slot and bearing against a wall thereof to move said knife element, said arm and said knife element bein disengageable from each other when said inife element is removed from said dark chamber.

JOHN S. GREENE. ARTHUR W. CAPS 

